Specifications:The Versatile Reporter
This classic focal length with a moderate wide-angle perspective
is perfectly suited for commercial, location and nature photography. The Distagon T* 2/35 is designed to provide very high image quality over a wide range of apertures and focusing ranges. The fast f/2 aperture enables hand-held photography under difficult lighting conditions and the short focus rotation is well-suited for fast action photography. The Distagon T* 2/35 is available with the F bayonet (ZF), K bayonet (ZK) and M42 (ZS) lens mounts and is designed for use with full-frame SLR and DSLR cameras. A special floating elements design offers constant high performance over the entire distance range.
Combined with a DSLR with a 1.5 crop factor, the lens has an effective focal length of 53 mm and can be used as a standard focal length for a natural viewing perspective.

I have quite a few ZE lenses now in my collection and the 35mm is right up there with the best of them. It is tack sharp wide open and only gets better as you stop down. The colours are beautiful as are all ZE lenses. Easy to focus and compose, great photojournalistic range.

Jul 15, 2014

bocaminusOffline

Registered: Apr 19, 2006Location: CanadaPosts: 533

Review Date: Jul 11, 2014

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $750.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Micro contrast, color rendering, sharpness

Cons:

None

I had this lens in a ZE mount but after I switched to Nikon I just knew I had to buy it again. The lens produces amazingly sharp images straight from f/2 but what really sets it apart is color rendering and amazing micro contrast. You won't see this in even faster 35mm primes ... Nikon and Canon counterpart's images are clear and sharp but kind a sterile in comparison to Zeiss. The build quality is typical Zeiss ... absolutely great.

Jul 11, 2014

---XR---OfflineBuy and Sell: On

Registered: Oct 30, 2008Location: United StatesPosts: 1454

Review Date: Jun 8, 2014

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $750.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Contrast, build.

Cons:

it's a carl zeiss, so this is almost a no brainer. Smooth but heavier focus- which is great for accurate MF. contrast out the wazoo, it's a great walk around FX or DX lens, i actually quit useing zooms for a considerable time after picking this lens up, still one of the first things that goes in my bag.

i reccomend getting an adapter for a 77mm filter and leaving it on, if your anything like me- you'll have mostly bigger filters anyways, and than you can use a solid nikon lenscap, which is better than the zeiss one, that is a little flimsy.

Jun 8, 2014

rbussmannOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Apr 11, 2013Location: United StatesPosts: 0

Review Date: Dec 14, 2013

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,117.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Fantastic color rendition, pretty small, nice bokeh, sharp!

Cons:

The lens cap, as in all zeiss lenses, is a joke.

Decided recently to buy one of these, after parting with my Canon 35mm 1.4. The Zeiss is fantastic - love the color rendition, and the size is great. Don't miss the 1.4, and don't miss the AF.

Dec 14, 2013

DpedrazaOfflineBuy and Sell: On

Registered: Jan 8, 2013Location: United StatesPosts: 907

Review Date: Dec 11, 2013

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $600.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Sharp, well built,

Cons:

I bought it used from an FM user. It is a great lens my copy was super sharp. I love the build quality of Zeiss. This lens isn't overl big or heavy either. It works great on the D800/D600

Dec 11, 2013

Peter KotsaOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Nov 1, 2007Location: AustraliaPosts: 267

Review Date: May 31, 2013

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Solid, sharp, great colour

Cons:

Price

Amazing glass in a nice package. I use this mainly from f2 to f4 and the image and contrast absolutely shine.
I have been using the Canon 35L for many years and was happy, but I wanted something that can give me better color and microcontrast for that "realism"...Zeiss fits that package to a T, or should I say T*.
Great lens and design..if it was Autofocus, it would probably be double its price. Nonetheless, a great lens for general photography.

May 31, 2013

chmodOfflineBuy and Sell: On

Registered: May 18, 2006Location: United StatesPosts: 66

Review Date: Jan 3, 2013

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10

Pros:

build quality, discreet size, almost analog feel to the output

Cons:

lens cap designed as a practical joke?

The thing about this lens is the way it resolves - it reminds me very strongly of the better days of film.

I cannot quantify the look or support it with micro specs, but will share the feedback I have received from colleagues - we all agree it has a classic "analog" feel to the images, and in the most positive ways.

Build quality, image quality, colours and contrast in images is amazing, really does make images pop.

Cons:

Lens cap ( replaced with a Nikon one )

The images this lens produces on my D700 are amazing, no problem with manual focusing, reminds me of my youth when I started photography.

If I was only taking one prime attached to my D700 this would be my first pick.

This was my first venture into Zeiss, I soon added the 25/2.8, and I am now looking at the 50/2 or 100/2 to complete my set, truly wonderful optics.

Sep 29, 2011

evannuilOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Sep 15, 2011Location: NetherlandsPosts: 0

Review Date: Sep 15, 2011

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Great IQ, very sharp, build quality

Cons:

No auto focus

I was looking for a 50mm on my Canon EOS 7D so that was a 35mm with the crop factor. After reading lots of reviews I looked at this lens. A great site that helped a lot was http://diglloyd.com/prem/prot/ZF/publish/35Distagon.html His review and samples made me take a look at Zeiss. After testing it in the camerastore I was sold.

Focus ring is a little tight. Would like to see it have a little more play.

This lens is amazingly sharp wide open. After contemplating going manual focus this lens made the jump well worth it. I feel a connection to all of my photo's now. Can't wait to see what I can create with this piece of art.

The lens is almost as sharp as my benchmark Zeiss MakroPlanar 50 2. Which I think is a really strong performance for a 35mm lens.

The minor barrel distortion it exhibits can be fixed in Photoshop in a minimal amount of time.

Jul 10, 2011

cputeqOfflineBuy and Sell: On

Registered: Jun 24, 2008Location: United StatesPosts: 5005

Review Date: Jun 24, 2011

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,100.00
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Sharp wide open, build quality, manual focus feel, contrast, colors.

Cons:

Vignetting wide open (though I like it), price.

I bought the EOS mount of this lens brand-new after pouring over lens recommendations and reviews, including Lloyd's excellent site.

Great lens, very smooth manual focus action like anyone would expect. So far I have had zero problems with the lens or the hood, great all around.

What might concern some people is the vignetting at f/2 - it can be rather strong, but easily corrected. Frankly I like the vignette so I usually never correct it. Lightroom 3 has a profile for this lens and will easily correct any faults, though half the time I leave the shots as-is.

Great color, great contrast, a decent price (for a Zeiss) - a very nice lens in a great focal range on my 5D2.

Jun 24, 2011

mvinsonOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Dec 13, 2010Location: United StatesPosts: 0

Review Date: May 10, 2011

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,017.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Vivid colors, sharp details, manual focus.

Cons:

I didn't buy it sooner.

As my kids would say. OMG! I've been shooting the Canon 35mm L lens on my 5D Mark ii and switched to this lens. I love the manual focus - it connects me back to what I am shooting. Get the matte focusing glass and you will never have to guess what is in focus again. I took a street photo of an artist and the colors and detail leap off the page. I am so happy with this purchase.

I bought this lens in addition to my Zeiss 50/2 ZE and Zeiss 100/2 ZE. This lens is in the same league and produces very comparable images, as far as the image quality and Zeiss look goes. I have ultimately sold the lens as 35mm was an awkward focal length for me. If 35mm lens is what you need, you should give this lens a serious try. The only negatives I noticed were vignetting between f/2-2.8 and geometrical distortions. The distortions are probably normal considering it's a slightly wide angle lens, but it may be noticeable. Adobe Ligthroom does a great job to automatically correct for the vignetting and distortions. The price of the lens is appropriate and reasonable.